John McCain, Glen Simpson, Mary Jacoby, Oleg Deripaska, Stefan Halper, The FBI (same guys), State Dept (same guys), Paul Manafort, Rick Davis, Putin, Viktor Yanukovych, ….. a Rothschild from London, and all the same players from Russia/Ukraine. Does it sound like we’re talking about “Muh Russia” or “Biden’s Ukraine”? Nope, we’re talking about the 1990’s, 2000’s and the election of 2008.
Every crime must have the elements “means, motive, and opportunity”. The crime in Ukraine which is in our headlines today, is impossible to understand without knowing the “motives” from a few decades ago.
Ever wonder why we are seeing so many long serving bureaucrats come out of the woodwork to disagree/disparage President Trump’s policy on Ukraine? It’s because their precious “institutions” have a LOT to hide. The same bureaucrats were there, complicit, and remember what happened. If the entire story of Ukraine was unwound, it would discredit their life’s work. Bureaucrats today are acting in pure self-interest. And make no mistake, this is a policy argument – as in good versus evil, justice versus corruption, fairness versus oppression…. and on which side the USA stands.
Notice the ages of the various players. It’s important. McCain, now dead, was in his 80’s, some are in their seventies, many in their 60’s, and only a few in their 50’s, those who are at the height of their careers. Remember where they all were 30 years ago and what roles they’ve played for the past 30 years. Dismiss the young bit players but note who has influenced them, they’re merely pawns. It’s no coincidence we just celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1983: International Republican Institute (IRI) is formed to push democratization efforts and roll back the influence of the Soviet Union. In 1993, John McCain sits on the Board and remains until he dies. IRI helps activists in various countries, largely responsible for the overthrow of Jean Baptiste in Haiti and other countries. Yeah, coups and overthrows don’t seem to happen on their own. ( Philip Agee, “Former CIA Agent Tells How U.S. Infiltrates Civil Society to Overthrow Governments,” Information Clearing House, August 3, 2003. “Tentacles of the InternationalRepublicanInstitute,” People’s Weekly World, March 13, 2004.) They’re on Twitter today, poking around in Tunisia and celebrating. The Atlantic Council has nothing on IRI – it’s the freely functioning wing of the State Dept.
June 12, 1987: It started here. Our generational enemy was Russia. Standing at the Brandenburg Gate, President Reagan called on Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”.
November 10, 1989: Then, 30yrs ago yesterday, the Berlin Wall fell. We won the Cold War and Peace was supposed to be the prize.
August of 1990 – February of 1991: Operation Desert Storm began and ended. As the Russians were withdrawing from former Soviet Bloc countries, the Desert War served as a punctuation mark to the military leaders in Russia. America was formidable and their equipment worked. Gorbachev faded from power in Russia and Boris Yeltsin rose.
July 10, 1991: Boris Yeltsin becomes the first “President of the Russian Federation”. He remained in power until December 31, 1999. His term in power almost perfectly coincided with that of the American President Bill Clinton, January 20, 1993-January 20, 2001. It was a perfect storm. Yeltsin was popular with the Russian people and notoriously anti-establishment. He had to unwind Russian control over vast territories. Former State run enterprises were up for grabs. Ruthless oligarchs stepped in to fight for control of vast wealth, natural resources, now abandoned by “Mother Russia” which were supposed to be left to naive leadership in former Soviet countries. Clinton’s foreign policy, and the interests of friends to Clinton, helped.
Yeltsin transformed Russia’s state socialist economy into a capitalist market economy by implementing economic shock therapy, market exchange rate of the ruble, nationwide privatization, and lifting of price controls. Economic collapse and inflation ensued. Amid the economic shift, a small number of oligarchs obtained a majority of the national property and wealth,[1] while international monopolies came to dominate the market.[2] During the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, Yeltsin ordered the unconstitutional dissolution of the Supreme Soviet parliament, which responded by attempting to remove him from office. In October 1993, troops loyal to Yeltsin stopped an armed uprising outside of the parliament building; he then introduced a new constitution. Secessionist sentiment in the Russian Caucasus led to the First Chechen War, War of Dagestan, and Second Chechen War between 1994 and 1999. Internationally, Yeltsin promoted renewed collaboration with Europe and signed arms control agreements with the United States. Amid growing internal pressure, in 1999 he resigned and was succeeded by his chosen successor, former Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Standard Wikipedia biography
Interesting to note, Russia/Yeltsin signed multiple Arms Control Agreements, START1, START2, Open Skies, Chemical Weapons Treaty, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Ottawa Treaty, all during Yeltsin’s reign, as he pivoted more towards Europe, and turned a socialist country into a capitalist economy. The indications were all there. Russia wanted to cooperate and open up. If NATO was the answer to a prior Russian threat, why wasn’t NATO disbanded or turned into a “Defense of Europe” and turned over to control and FUNDING by European Nations during the 1990’s? Could it be because the bureaucrats were “trained to guard against an enemy, Russia”? Did having Russia, as the neverending boogeyman serve the bureaucracy, despite the will of the people?
The 1990’s beget the Oligarch Wars, often led by former military leaders skilled in “the arts”, sought to gain control of ports, airports, natural resources, banks, etc. It was a scramble for power and wealth. None was more bloody than The Aluminum Wars, involving Oleg Deripaska, among other key players. We’re only beginning to learn more about what went on in Russia during the 1990’s as various players die, and their estates are settled in western courts. Seems as the years went by, Russian oligarchs sought safe haven for their funds in western nations in an attempt to legitimize. https://www.europeanceo.com/profiles/oleg-deripaska-and-the-russian-aluminium-wars/
Deripaska, born in 1968, was 1yrs old when his father died. His mother worked round the clock to support him, and he ended up living with his grandparents. To help the family, he took a job as an electrical tech in a local plant… he was 11yrs old. He excelled in math, physics, and chemistry, but won four Russian medals in literature. Deripaska studied theoretical physics at the Moscow State University, did his military service beginning in 1986 under old KGB rule, and later earned an economics degree from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics…. Deripaska, in association with his econ degree, took MANY classes at the London School of Economics…… where he learned about………. money. https://24celebs.com/celebrity/34986-oleg-deripaska.html
Again close to starvation, working for food and lodging, Deripaska took a chance befriending Abramovich, who was buying up Aluminum. As a mid-level manager, Deripaska started buying contracts for a Siberian Aluminum company in 1993. By 1996, he controlled 20%.
As the state began to sell off its resource assets, the size and value of the global market for aluminium, along with the potential for moving money around the globe, attracted such fierce competition that it is estimated 100 people were killed. In the words of Roman Abramovich, who testified recently in his suit over events of that period, “Every three days, someone was being murdered.”
https://www.europeanceo.com/profiles/oleg-deripaska-and-the-russian-aluminium-wars/
As major systems were breaking down within Russia, Deripaska kept buying assets, airports, airlines, construction companies, agribusiness, mining, industry. By 1999, Deripaska became the general director of the company “Russian Aluminum”, which included Sibneft and Siberian Aluminum. A year later, he started “Basic Element”, which today is the leader in the Russian capital management market. “Basic Element” of Oleg Deripaska is represented in all key industries in Russia and abroad, with over 200K employees. Highlight assets of the industrial group are:
• The largest Russian producer of products “Group GAZ”
• The leader of the Russian insurance market “Ingosstrakh”
• The construction company Glavmosstroy,
• The airport holding company BaselAero,
https://24celebs.com/celebrity/34986-oleg-deripaska.html
Boris Yeltsin had two daughters, one named Tatyana, who married the former head of the presidential administration, Valentin Yumasheva, whose business partner was Roman Abramovich (who controlled most of the aluminum in Russia), who introduced Deripaska to, the daughter of Tatyana and Valentin, whose name was Polina…. and who married Oleg Deripaska in 2001.
You see, as Yeltsin left the government, a decree was signed to hold harmless any member of the Yeltsin family ——- ensuring no retribution. So, Oleg Deripaska married Yeltsin’s granddaughter in 2001. Deripaska operates with virtual immunity in Russia, but he has enormous problems as soon as he sets foot outside Russia.
Personally, I could never understand why Deripaska kept trying to get a VISA into the USA. Why was it so important? Well, to list an IPO on the London Exchange, “due diligence” must be done on a company. With the Americans blacklisting Deripaska, he could never bring his company to IPO launch. The problem has haunted Deripaska and “not listing” has cost Deripaska an estimated 10 billion dollars and a way to cash out of his companies. Deripaska’s efforts to ingratiate himself with the USA brings many players into focus.
Deripaska also reached out to a Washington-based intelligence firm, Diligence, chaired by GOP foreign policy hand Richard Burt, McCain’s top foreign policy adviser in 2000 and an adviser in ’08.
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
The upheaval in the former Soviet Bloc was extraordinary. A few weeks ago, I watched a movie starring Nicholas Cage called “Lord of War“. Fascinating tale of arms dealing, after the fall of the Soviet Empire, based on a true story. I learned over 33 BILLION in arms went missing from Ukraine during the decade after 1991. POOF!
There are two simultaneous conspiracies/corruption/asset grabs going on during the early-mid 2000’s. One involved Montenegro and another involved Ukraine. It’s all the same people. Let’s take Montenegro, first.
2000 – 2001: After the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, Montenegro (one of the 6 republics of Serbia) began to reach out for independence. They hire Bob Dole, former Presidential Candidate, as a lobbyist, paying him over 1.3 million dollars to act on their behalf. (The Nation)
2002: Under pressure from the EU and the USA, referendum for independence was put off for 3 yrs. (The Nation)
Late 2005 until Spring 2006: Referendum on Montenegro independence is coming due in Spring of 2006. Rick Davis lobbies for the campaign work from Djukanovic. Davis hires 3 guys suggested by Manafort, who were then vetted by Montenegro’s Ambassador to Russia. Djukanovic never listed an expense for the firm of Davis/Manafort, which makes people still think the Russians paid for their work.
According to two former senior US diplomats who served in the Balkans, Davis and his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, received several million dollars to help run Montenegro’s independence referendum campaign of 2006. The terms of the agreement were never disclosed to the public, but top Montenegrin officials told the US diplomats that Davis’s work was underwritten by powerful Russian business interests connected to the Kremlin and operating in Montenegro. Neither Davis nor the McCain campaign responded to repeated requests for comment. (Davis’s extensive lobbying work, especially on behalf of collapsed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has already attracted critical media scrutiny.)
http://exiledonline.com/kremlin-whores-how-mccain-staff-sold-countries-to-putin/
And guess who was reporting extensively on it for the WSJ in the USA……. None other than Mary Jacoby and Glen Simpson.
Throughout the campaign for independence, Rick Davis called on help from Deripaska’s contacts. As the election grew near, Serbia announced they would not allow Montenegro children to attend their university for free. At the last minute, Davis called Deripaska for help. Deripaska called the young son of Baron Nathaniel Rothschild who flew in to publicly offer 1 million dollars for students who needed to attend university.
December 1, 2005: Oleg Deripaska snaps up KAP Aluminum plant in Montenegro, for about 100 million Euros total investment. The plant had an enormous capacity, 120K tons of liquid aluminum/yr and their own bauxite mines. During the EU sanctions on Yugoslavia 1997-1999, the KAP plant was limited to 13% capacity, but still responsible for 65% of Montenegro’s exports, during trying times. At full tilt, the plant was responsible for 40% of Montenegro’s GDP. The deal was conducted directly between Oleg Deripaska and the then Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović and it was A STEAL.
December 2005: Deripaska was issued a multi entry US visa, according to the State Department. During his brief stay he signed his World Bank loan, spoke at a Carnegie Endowment meeting and attended a dinner for Harvard University’s Belfer Center, where, thanks to a generous donation, he became a member of its international council.
However, Deripaska’s trip did not end well. Under the visa’s terms, he was forced to endure lengthy FBI questioning. According to the mining-industry newsletter Mineweb, the list of his enemies had grown from jilted former business partners to the heads of powerful US metals companies and government officials unhappy with RusAl’s control of key Third World bauxite mines, which threatened beleaguered US aluminum giants. The interview went badly—according to people who know him, Deripaska had little patience for prying bureaucrats. When he left the country, the visa ban was reinstated. (The Nation)
January 2006: Rick Davis (the partner of Paul Manafort) arranged a private meeting between Oleg Deripaska and John McCain at Davos in Switzerland. The meeting was hosted by Peter Munk, the Canadian Billionaire who showed up in Montenegro to help secure the student vote for Montenegro Independence Referendum. Peter Munk is the CEO of Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold-mining corporation. He spent “zillions” on his part of the converted Soviet Navy Base into a lux marina to rival that of Cannes, France. He sold his interest in 2016, died in 2018 at the age of 90.
The McCain campaign later claimed that “any contact between Mr. Deripaska and the senator was social and incidental,” but notice this part…..
…..afterward Deripaska thanked Davis for arranging “such an intimate setting.” TheWashington Post reported that Davis was “seeking to do business with the billionaire.” Indeed, Deripaska’s subsequent thank-you letter mentioned his possible investment in a metals company Davis represented through a hedge-fund client.
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
So we have Rick Davis pimping Senator McCain to Oleg Deripaska, so Deripaska will invest in a metals company where Davis represents the Hedge fund = money for Davis. The introduction may help Deripaska = money for Deripaska. And the whole thing is hosted by Peter Munk of Canada, who ends up with the marina in Montenegro? Help to McCain….. where is the McCain m0ney? We’ll see it later…… we need a middleman named Rothschild, first.
If you’re wondering how Deripaska came to know Davis & Co., the answer lies in Russia’s next-door neighbor Ukraine.
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
Again, it all comes back to Ukraine.
Now, let’s look at what was going on in Ukraine at the same time.
2004: The Orange Revolution starts, it’s peaceful, in reaction to the election of Yanukovych, pro-Russia. The people think he stole the election.
2005: In the re-vote, Yushchenko won 54% for a majority and governed Ukraine January 23, 2005 – February 25, 2010 …………. He was succeeded again, by Yanukovych… same guy as above. After the “poisoning”, the government opened an investigation, and the big Ukraine oligarch involved, Akhmetov, fled the country to….. where do they all go(?)…… to Monaco.
Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov is a Ukrainian billionaire businessman, and oligarch. He is the founder and president of System Capital Management, and ranked among the wealthiest men in Ukraine., he was listed as the 272nd richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of US 6.4 billion. He is an ethnic Volga Tatar and a practicing Sunni Muslim born in Donetsk, which is the most eastern part of Ukraine, and in the midst of the Russian skirmishes, invasion into Crimea (2013) where 8000 people died. (Wiki) He made his money in coal and steel.
While Akhmetov was exiled and bored in Monaco, he hired Paul Manafort to rehab the pubic image of his company. One friendship turned into another and soon, Manafort was helping Yanukovych resume power in Ukraine. Akhmetov was the prime donor to the Party of Regions, the party of Yanukovych.
Grasp the hypocrisy. McCain nominated Yushchenko (allegedly pro-western) for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, from the offices of the International Republican Institute (which specializes in overthrowing governments), while his Campaign Manager’s firm (Davis Manafort) was campaigning against Yushchenko.
By 2006, same year as the January meeting of McCain and Deripaska at Davos in Switzerland, AND while Davis was working in Montenegro, Manafort helped the Party of Regions sweep the Parliamentary elections in Ukraine, allowing Akhmetov to return to Ukraine…. sans investigation.
The same Spring 2006, Davis wins the Montenegro Independence Referendum.
In April 2006 McCain announced that Montenegro’s independence was the “greatest European democracy project since the end of the cold war.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
By summer of 2006, Nat Rothschild was negotiating for the valuable coastline property and “Porto Montenegro” project, which aims to become the world’s top mega-yacht marina, complete with luxury hotels, shopping and the country’s first eighteen-hole golf course. The property was handed to the Munk-Rothschild-fronted offshore consortium for a pittance, …… Oleg Deripaska’s secretive ownership interest was eventually revealed.
Summer of 2006: McCain and several Senators make a trip to visit Milo Djukanovic in Montenegro. Come to find out, the day before McCain’s arrival, Djukanovic went to visit Putin at his private daccha on the Black Sea, then returned to warmly welcome McCain.
………two years later, in March of this year (2008), Rothschild hosted a high-dollar fundraiser for McCain at London’s posh eighteenth-century Spencer House, which Rothschild donated for the occasion. Given the close relationship between Rothschild and Deripaska, some speculated that Deripaska was the hidden hand behind the event. The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that the fundraiser amounted to an illegal contribution by foreign nationals to McCain’s campaign.
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we forget the details in the campaign of 2008, dozens and dozens of articles were written about Davis and Manafort tying their involvement in former Soviet countries to the McCain campaign. The language is eerily similar to Trump’s “Muh Russia” conspiracy theory peddled by the media. Even the accusations from McCain, against Russia, while his people worked with Russian interests in the background. NOTHING stopped the money and the duplicity, the public pronouncements, and private dealings are laid bare for the world to see in the age of internet.
That should bring us up to the year 2008 and the Presidential election.
Yanukovych was re-elected in 2010, with help from Paul Manafort. The State Dept and Obama Admin took exception to his leadership and began the effort to overthrow Yanukovych. Recall Victoria Nuland passing out cookies to the protesters, McCain speaking to the protesters, along with Chris Murphy, current Senator from Connecticut.
In November of 2013, Viktor Yanukovych rejected the “EU Association Agreement” and instead favored a loan bailout and closer ties to Moscow. Remember when Victoria Nuland said “Fuck the EU!!!!!!!!!” That sparked the second Orange Revolution/EuroMaidan where many people died, and our State Dept and “agencies” were definitely involved. Yanukovych was overthrown, the Parliament was threatening to impeach him and he fled to …… (not Monaco) ………. Russia. The Prime Minister stepped in and was LOVED by our State Dept., “Julia” Yulia Tymoshenko
Within days of Yanukovych leaving for safety in Russia, the Crimea incursion started.
…… it was confronted with a crisis in the autonomous republic of Crimea. Unidentified gunmen, later confirmed to be Russian troops, occupied key sites throughout the peninsula. Over the next two weeks, pro-Russian paramilitary groups solidified their hold on the peninsula and organized a widely criticized independence referendum. On March 18 Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin formally annexed Crimea, a move that precipitated the largest breach between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. The following month, unidentified troops carrying Russian weapons and equipment seized government buildings in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, sparking a conflict that would claim thousands of lives.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petro-Poroshenko
Remember who was from Donetsk? Akhmetov, the wealthiest of all the Ukraine oligarchs – close to Manafort. And Poroshenko was from Donetsk, and he was a popular member of Parliament, a wealthy billionaire in his own right, and had been in Cabinet level positions. Poroshenko also helped form the Party of Regions.
But Hottie Julia was convicted of “Abuse of Power”, back when she was Prime Minister in 2009, along with tax evasion and embezzlement. She went on a hunger strike for 19 days – from prison. https://www.ibtimes.com/imprisoned-ukranian-yulia-tymoshenko-end-hunger-strike-697404 Julia was succeeded by Oleksandr Turchynov who was an Economist and Baptist Minister, also a former head Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council —- the ones accused of poisoning former President Yushchenko, which disfigured him so badly. That’s who he had lunch with!
June 7, 2014: Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as Ukrainian President on 7 June 2014 and Turchynov became Chairman of the Ukraine Parliament.
Of course, the years passed, Hunter Biden joined Burisma, billions of dollars IMF money disappeared. Milo Zlochevsky, the billionaire owner of Burisma was exiled to where……. where do they go……. Monaco!!!!
But John McCain, once he laid down with the fleas, stayed with the fleas. In 2016, he accused Putin of trying to overthrow Montenegro and for the attempted assassination Milo Djukanovic. McCain desperately pushed for Montenegro to become an EU/NATO member. When Rand Paul objected, McCain became enraged:
“I note the senator from Kentucky leaving the floor without justification or any rationale for the action he has just taken. That is really remarkable, that a senator blocking a treaty that is supported by the overwhelming number, perhaps 98 – at least – of his colleagues would come to the floor and object and walk away. The only conclusion you can draw when he walks away is he has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO that is under assault from the Russians. So I repeat again, the senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin.”
https://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/03/19/mccain-and-montenegro-the-anatomy-of-a-conspiracy-theory/
Gotta have Russia as the boogeyman.
Of course, we already know all the details of Obama Admin/Clinton/DNC involvement in the Ukraine during 2016 US Presidential Election cycle. We know about Ambassador Yovanovitch, the Cruella De Ville of Ukraine. We know about Sytnyk, his work with Soros, who we “think” fabricated the black ledger document to frame Manafort and was convicted in Ukraine of election interference (although overturned on technicality). We know about the audio tape of Sytnyk admitting to helping Hillary in 2016. We know about Chalupa and the whole dirty cabal. Here’s the audio in case you missed it.
We know Deripaska was approached by McCabe for dirt on Trump and laughed and we know Deripaska had contact with Senator Mark Warner via his attorney Adam Waldman. Same people, over and over again. And don’t forget Mary Jacoby at the White House and Glenn Simpson with Fusion GPS.
Jan 25, 2019: And as is typical in Ukraine, another leader in Ukraine was found guilty of………….. something. Imagine that one. Protesters imported from other countries and regions, attacking his police station and government buildings, and Yanukovych tried to maintain order. There is MUCH controversy around the uprising in Maidan as to who was responsible for the protests and deaths. And yet……….. A Ukrainian court has found the former president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of treason for his efforts to crush the 2014 pro-western demonstrations that eventually toppled his government. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/ukraine-ex-president-viktor-yanukovych-found-guilty-of-treason
It’s just another day in Ukraine!
Can you imagine someone like Elizabeth Warren dealing with these wise guys? How about Pete Boot edge-edge? Should we send in AOC?
No
Thank GOD we have this guy.
Please see our previous posts for more info on Ukraine here:
“Timeline for 1/1024th of an Impeachment Inquiry”: https://wqth.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/timeline-for-1-1024-of-an-impeachment-inquiry/comment-page-1/
“It All Comes Back to Ukraine”: https://wqth.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/it-all-comes-back-to-ukraine/
Thank you for the virtual visit!
When I sit down at the computer I often start here for a quick scan and then am busy elsewhere – esp. social media these days.
But at the end of the day when I am finished with all of that and just want to relax, here is where I come to put my feet up, breath a sigh of relief and relax. Seems like a family with the annoying younger brother, the wise grandfather figures, the loving grandmother figures, the interesting and fascinating uncles and aunts, the incredibly smart cousin, the funny old uncle, some eccentrics…and, no, none of these have to do with age (I imagine the annoying younger brother is much too old to act the way he does! ha) just characters and how I feel when I read here.
A wonderful place to read – most fascinating book Ever! And yet, I am an occasional player in the very book I am reading. Real, and not real. Amusing and yet so educational. Philosophical, fascinating stories and yet up to the minute reporting in which we learn both the details and the rest of the story!
Anyway, love it here even if we don’t get to “real”/personal as this isn’t actually a small place and of course I remain aware that this is a very open, public space.
Still love it and appreciate you all, each one of you, for what you bring to the table.
Thank you to all who create the space – esp. wolf, + all of the wonderful contributors.